CA2044671A1 - Transit operators revenue accounting system - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for selling tickets and accounting for their sale is disclosed. The system generally includes a number of depots (1) each of which servicing a plurality of operators (2) each of whom act to sell tickets (10) to patrons on the system. The issuing of tickets (10) is controlled at a ticket distribution point (12) whereby tickets are scanned (3) to record in a local computer (4) those tickets (10) issued to an operator (2). Subsequent to the sale of the tickets (10) the operator (2) deposits monies (11) into a counting machine (5) which records a transaction value within the local computer (4). An invoice is printed (9) for each operator (2). Revenue data is transferable about the system via communications network (6) between depots (1) and central computer (7) which includes a data base (8) of statistical information. Fig. 1 IAP/742o

Description

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Th~ pres~nt 1n~ent10n rel~tes to a method of, and a system for, the selllng of tlckets and the a~count of the sale of those tlskets. ~he system Ss based on a p~incSple where all users o~ the system ~re deemed to be debtors to the system. The system comprlses three modules. The f~rst module betng a tlcket saleslmanagement ~odule t~ncludlng on board t~ck~tSng lnterface~. The seco~d mod~1e cons~sts of a revenue detect~on package and the thlr~ modul~ ~e~ng an ~n-tl ~nsS~ ~ng~neerlng p~ekage inter~aced to ~he tn-transSt tlcketlng system~ In particular~ the present ln~entlon relates to ths sltua~lon where ths lssuing o~ the tlckets takes place by a large nu~ber of moblle operators and atso ~ncludes statl~ at~on~ such as tl~ket agents. The pre~ent lnventSon ls particularly appllcable to thY transport ~ndustry (bus and tra~
syst~s belng yood examples). parkin~ statlons and debtor based coln vendSng operations.
Conventlo~al systems of ttcket sale and acc~unttng are h1ghly labour ~ntens~ve. Such systems rely upon the salQ of in~lvldually numbered t1ckets by a transport ope~at~r. The monles recetved from the tlc~et sa~es ovsr the course of an operator~s shi~t, are ~anually ~ounted at the end o~ the shtft. Also, the numbers of unsold tSckets are manually recorded and recon~led agaSnst those tickets that wsre ln the operator'S possessSon at the commencement of the sh1~t in order to evaluate the net sale of ~1ckets durtng the course o~ thQ shS~t. Th~s reconcil~ats~n has been conventlo~ally performed ~anual1y on a ~our weekly bas~s by way of manual do~umen~ ~hecklng a~ depot level, batch procsss data ~ntry and manual reconctlSatton.
In Fig, 12, a conYentional system lO0 Ss shown lndicat~ng a stoek flow 101 and corresponding cash f10W 102. In th~s exampte, stock is tic~ets pr~or to sale which are lssued, generally ~rom a head offlce 103 to one or more depo~s 104 distr~buted about the system lO0. At each depot 104, the stock ~tSckets~ are pro~ided to oper~tors lO~ ~e.g. bus drivers, point o~ s~le agQnts~ etc) who, durSn~ the course of thelr daSly sh~t, ex~hange the stock ~or cash wlth passen~ers lll c~rried by the system 100, as seen ~n the cash flow 102. Cash provided ~o the operator 3S at 112 is accumu~ate~ daily ~per shS~t) and h~nded to a revenue clerk 113 who upda~es ~he revenue accounts reeord 108 and deposits the cash Sn a bank 114. The operato~, gener~lly daily~ bu~ in some cases over ~wo IADt7~8E~/74Zo ~04L~671 weeks, prov1des a Journal 1û6 of stock sales, usua11y by reco1^~lng tlcket:
serla1 nul~lbers. The ~ournal ~06 ls then manually entere~ 107 lnto a data base ~hlch rec~nclles wSth the revenue accounts 108. In the worst cas~, these steps can take up to three wee~s each. Upon reconclllatlon of stock and cash, a gen~ral ledger 110 ls prod~ced lndlcat~ng net revenue.
Thls ean b~ returned ~o the depot 109 ~or local ~ecords.
Accord'n~ly, stat~stlcal data regard~ng the operatlon of ~he system 100 lag by many weeks th~ occurence o~ partlcular events. ~enerally, where a large number o~ operators ex~st, typlcally 3,000 sproad amon~st lo three sh1fts per day 1n the case o~ the Appllcant, the task of collatln~
the r~levant ~evenue ~nd statls~cal lnfQrmatSon be~omes a labour lntensiYe and t1me consum~ng manual process of substantlal expense.
It ls an obJect of the present lnvent30n tv substantlally overcome, or amcl~orate, the a~ov~ment30ned d~lcul~es through provlslon of a substantlally automated t3cket account~ng and revenue coll~t10n system.
In accordance ~lth one aspect of the present lnvention there ~5 d~s~losed a system for setl7ng t3c~ets and acco~nt~n~ for their sale, sa~d system compr~stn~:
a pl~ral~ty of tickets each o~ which 1s un~quely identi~1able by at l~ast a two part ticket number encoded thereon whereby one part of each sa1d ticket number 1dentt~tes a part~cular type o~ t1cke~ o~fered for sale and ~nother part ldentlfles a serial number of that type of ticket;
a plural~ty of ticket d~spens~ng means that are individually 1den~1~1able and ~rom whleh t1ckets are d~spensed 1n exchange for monles received therefor, each sa~d t~k~t d~spens~ng m~ans be~ns portable by a corresponding operator ~n relation to a plurali~y o~ depots, said operators belng based from a home o~e of sa~ depots;
countlng means 10cated wlthin each sal~ depo~ and com~unica~ng w1th a local process~ng means located wi~hln each said depot, said c~unt1ng means be~ng ~o~ the eoun~ing of mon~s rece1ved by each s~ld operator ~hat ~epos~ts ~onies therein, sa~d countin~ means outp~tting to said local process~ng means a value o~ mon~es depos~ted by s~d op~r~o~:
reading means located ~ithin each sai~ depot and communlcating w~th : said local process~ng means, said reading means bein~ operable by sa~d operators to ident~y those tickets rema~ning unsold at the end of an op~rator's ~hi~t; and IAD/7~8~/7420 -2 ~ 7 ~

a comm~nl~at~ons net~ork ~nterconnect1n~ ~ach of sald local processing means w~thln ea~h sa~d d~pot ~ogether w~th a host process~ng m~ans located at any polnt wlthln sald net~ork whereby the number and type of tickets presented to each sa~d operator f~r sale are lnputted to eaeh sald local processlng mean5 at each respectlve ho~e depot at the end of each of sald operator s shlfts said read~ng means in lndentt~y~ng those tlc~et~ remaining ~nsold and communlcatlng such Snfor~atlon to sald l~cal processlng me~ns allowtng sald local processing means to determ~ne the value o~ t1ckets sold by each sa~
operator said value belng compared w1th the va~ue of ~on~es ~ounted by sa~d countlng means to determlne 2n outstand~nq llablllt~ owed by sa~d operator and informat10n relatlng to tlc~et sales and revenue ~ollected ls stored wlthl~ sa~d ~ocat processlng means and/or transmttted to sald host process~ng means to form a data base of ~nformatlon relatlng to the sale of and a~count~ng for t1ckets wlthin saSd system.
Preferably, the tickets ha~e a thlrd part compr~sin~ a check dl~
based on the serlal number of the t~cket. The ch~c~ di~it 1s adapted to prevent fraudlent use of each ~lcket. Also preferably, the readlnq means ~dentSfies the operator and the operator s home depot.
A method of selling or dispenslng tlckets at a plural1ty of lo~ation~ from portable ticket dispensins apparatus ts also d1sclosed~
A system oper~ted tn accordance wlth the present inventlon offers the advantages over conventlonal systems tn that tha net re~enue callected at any t~me is readlly av~i1able and that statistlcal methods 2S can be ~asily applled to thc data base 1n order to ~ointly assass the operat~onal and cost e~fectSven~ss o~ dif~eren~ types of ticket sales and other combinat~ons and permutat~ons includlng shlft varia~ions, different tlme periods and seasonal changes tn ~ystem usage.
A nu~ber of em~od~ments of the pr~sent invention wlll now b~
described wlth ref~rence to th~ drawlngs in which:
F1g. 1 is a sehematic blo~ d~a~ram repre~entation of the preferred embodlment;
~ig. 2 i5 a schematic block diagram representation of a depot level network in Fig. l;
FSg. 3 is a menu for a Ticket Reeeip~s software module;
F~g. ~ is a menu for a Cash ~ec~pts software module;
fig. ~ ~s a menu for ~n Ope~ator so~twa~e module;

IAD/7~J7420 .

-2~4~71 _ 4 Flg. 6 ls a menu for an A~unt Reconc~ t10n softw~r~ modul~;
Flg. 7 ls a ~enu for a R~port s~ftware module;
Flg. B ls a m~nu for a S~ock C~ntrol software module;
Flg. 9 15 ~ menu fo~ s Statls~tcs s~ftwar~ module;
.5 Flg. 10 ls a menu for a System ~aintenance soft~re module;
Flg. 11 ls a menu for an Are~ Manager so~tware module; and F~g. 12 is ~ schematlc block dlagram ~epresentatlon of a pr~or art accountlng system.
Referr~n~ to Fig. 1, a translt operators rev~nue account1n~ system (TORAS~ ls shown comprls~ng a number of transport depots 1, of whlch only two are l)lustrated for clarlty. Assoclated w~th e~ch of the depots 1 ls a set comprlsSng a plurallty of transport operators 2. ~ach operator 2 wlthln the syste~, 1s unlquely ldent~flable by a number 2S whlch lncludes reference to the~r home depot and an 1dentl~cat10n number assoclate~
wtth that depot. Operators are persons who sell t k kets and 1n the case of the Applicant can ~e bus drlvers, que~e conductors, ~lxed po~nt of sale agents, revenue collect~on offScers or translt ll~son offlcers.
Tlckets 1~ us~d w~thin the system arQ 1nd~1dually ldentt~lable by means o~ a number (not shown lllustrated) encoded upon the tlcket. The number preferab1y has three sect10~s, the ~irst section ldentl~ylng the type of t~cket 10 and relat~ng to a type and/or length of Journey be1ng travelled. The ~nforma~ion encoded ~n the f1rst sec~on ean ~
repre~entative of, for example, adult or concess~on fare, the num~er of sections or length ~f journey being travelled, ~ periodi~al tlcket val~
for a wee~ or a ~onth, etc. The second sec~on o~ the ident1fylng number ~s a serial number ldentifylng t1~kets 10 wlthln a p~rt~cular type. The thi~d par~ ~s a check dlg1t based on the serial number o~ the ticket lO. The pUrpose ~f the check dig~t ls ~o preve~t fraudl~nt use of each tScket lO. The method of encod~ng ~he t9cket number ~pon the 30 tlckets lO can b~ by any kno~n means such as the printing o~ characters us~ng OR~A or ORCB or the printing of a bar codQ.
T~ckets 10 ~or sale to custo~ers who commute on the transport system are genera11y distributed ~rom wSthin 2aeh depot 1 ~o each operator 2 ho~e ba~ed at ~hat partlcular depot 1, Tickets can also be 3S distr~buted to operator~ from any ~epot wlth~ the system not necessarily his home depot. TScke~ dtstr~but~on ~2 to opera~ors 1 ~s reeorded ~y ttcket scannin~ devSce 3 th~t reads ~he operator 2 (debtor) and encoded IA~748~17420 . , , -` 20~46 ~1 . -- 5 tlcket number(s) and records same 1n a c~rrespondlng local comp~tln~
system 4 located at each depot l networked to the sys~m. As ~ell ~s tlcket transfer and dlstrSbutlon ~he syste~ auto~ttcally repQrts on all aspects of stock control. The recorded lnformatlon relates to the t~ck~t type and d~strlbuted tlcket number of each type provlded to each operator 2. Examples of such scannln~ devlces 3 are optlcal character recognltton or bar code recognlt10n devtces, know par se, ~s appl1cable to the type of encodlng be7ng used.
In th~ co~rse o~ an operator's ~ sh~, tlckets lO are provlded to commuters ln exchange ~or monles ll recelved ther~or, ~a~h commuter receivlng a t~cket type that relates to the ~ourney be~n~ travelled and a number that ~dent~fles the parttcular tlcket sold to ~he co~mut~r.
At the end of an operator's 2 shtft, and upon return to the home depot, the operator 2 ~eposlts mon~es ll recetved ln an automati~ m~ney lS counttng m~ch~n~ S. Each countlng machlne S counts the recelved montes 11, both co~n and no~es, and lssues a recetpt for the t~ans~ct~on. It then transmtts to the local computer 4 a value of mont~s rece~ved to credtt the operator~s 2 account. Other ~n~ormatton downloaded to th~
comput~r 4 lncludes cash box clearanc~, account shorage payments and any suspense a~count details.
The operator 2 then proceeds to a scann~ng station. At the s~annlng statlon the operator makes use of th~ scann~ng devlce 3 to check the ~atus o~ h~s/her account andlor to recor~ ~he t~cket numbers remaln~ng 1n ~he operator~s tlcket case at th~ complet~on of thc sh~ft.
Thls lnf~rm~tlon is ~hen transmltted to the loca1 computer 4 wh~ch, when combined wlth th9 ticket distrlbut10n data, and tlcket sales information from a prevlous sht~t, ~n then calcula~ the nu~ber of each part~c~lar type o~ tickets so~ ~n the course o~ the sh~ft and ~he corr~spon~ng value represanttng the net revenu~ of tiekets ~old dur~n~ the shift.
Thls value ls then deblted to the operator~s account ~tored w~th1n the local computer 4. The local computer 4 dlspl~ys deta~ls o~ the debtor's aceount on ~ ~on~or and then produces an 1nvQi~e on pr~nter 9 for the operator 2 tha~ tndicates each o~ the follow~ng: opening and closlng ticket number for the shi~, ticket type description, ticket value, 3S quantity sold, extended value (qu~ntlty multiplled by eost~, and the outstanding l~ability. The outstan~ng liab~llty tepresents the ~if~erence be~ween ~4nles deposlted by ~he opera~or and ~he catculated IAD/7~/7420 " 2~671 n~t revenue of tlck~ts sold dur~ng the shlf~. Th~ lnvolce also d1splays detalls relatlng t~ any prev~ous paym~nts lncludln~ the amount carrled ~or~ard from prevlous 1nvol~e transfers or ad~ustments. any ~dvance coln payments, flnal coln paymen~. t~kets ~or ~e-supply as w~ll as lndlcatlng s the status of the co~n coun~er/computer llnk. ~ach ~nvo1ce has a unlq~e involce number pertaln~ng ~o that debtor. A weekly and four weekly debtor statement ls also produced.
The local ccmputer 4 ~hus conta~ns all relevant t~c~t sales information relat1ng ~o each partlcular operator over each ~nd every shlft performed. In the c~se of on-board tlcketSng the computer also holds statlstlcal data, roster~schedule data and tSmekeeping (payroll) data.
Each local computer 4, and consequent~y each depot l, wtthln the system 15 11nked to each other ~la ~ communlcat10ns network 6. The communlcations ne~work 5 can also l~nk a ma1n co~puter 7 not necessar~ly located w1thln any one of the depots l. The commun1catlons network 6 15 used to transm~t local depot in$ormat~on from each local computer 4 to the ma~n computer 7 wh~ch then complles the tl~ket sales tnformat~on 1nto a data base 8 as well ~s download~ng f~nanclal and statist~cal 2a lnformation to a general ledger f~le whlch forms p~r~ o~ a fln~nc~l system. The communicatlons net~ork 6 can be of any ~nown typ~ such as t~lephone land lines, dedicated lSnes such as optlcal fibres, r~dlo or mlcrowa~ nks.
The commun1cat30ns ne~ork 6 also per~orms another ~unct~on ln transmltt~ng dat~ between lndiv1dual depots l. ~or example, durlng the course of a shlft, an operator 2 may Wl~h to depos~t a larse portion o~
the monl~s received thus reducSn~ the r~sk o~, and poss1~1e loss due ~o, theft. The oPerator 2 can deposlt the mon~es ~n any money count~ng machine 5 at any depot l located wlthln th~ syst~. Once the operator 2 Sdentl~es himself to the system using the money counting mach~ne 5, the ~achine counts ~he money whose value is ~hen ~ransmitted to the ope~ator'~ hc,me depot and ~red~ted to the op~rator's own account. A
s1m11ar process ca~ occur at ~he end o~ a shift if a shift is completed at a depot other than a home depot whereby ticket information o~ta~ned by the ticket scanning devlce 3 ~an also be transmitted to the home depot~
Other devices a~tached to the ma1n computer 7 lnclude scanning ds~ce~, moni~ors, las~r pr~nters and dot matrix pninters.

1AD/7~B~/74~o 2~4ll~71 An ~lternat1ve embod~ment of the present ~n~ent10n c~n be S~plemented in whl~h a ~lcket dlspenslng machlne (not illustrated) mounted on the bus or k~rbslde i5 used by the operator ~ or ln stand alone mode to dlspense tlckets to commuters. The t~cket d~spenslng mach~ne preferably has the features of ~ndlvldua~ly numberlng tlcke~s and tlcket types as sold and a1so has a ~ultable memory, such as a so-called ~smart card"fdata cassette to ret~n t1cket sales and stat1stle~1 ln~ormatlon. A ~urther enhancement of the on-bus tlcket vendlng m~chlne includes lnter~ac~ng ~o a roster/schedul~ng and ttmekeeP~ng package (resldent 1n the lo~al computer 4~. Also an on~bus englneerlng ~odule can 4e provlded to down load to the on-board hus t k ket~ng module detalls re~ating to the bus hours o~ usa, mileage, speeds, gearbox and eng1ne temperatures.
When the operator downloa~s deta~ls o~ hls dallY tlc~et sales and lS statlst~cs to the depot ~ompute~ the englneer~n~ data 15 als~ downloaded.
Th~s embodlm~nt el~m~nates th~ requlrement ~or tlcket d~strlbutlol as needed 1n the preYSous embod1ment. At the end o~ a shl~t ~n which an operator used a tlcket d~spenslng mach~ne, lt is only necessary for the operator to withdr~w the smart c~rdJdata cass~tte from the dlspensing mach1ne and Snsert the smart card ~nto an approprla~e readlng d~vice (PMR) connected to the local computer 4. The lo~al computer 4 then extracts all releva~t t1c~et sa~es/statist~cal lnformatSon from the smart card/data casse~e. The requ~rement for money countlng would stlll exlst in the manner as ea~l~er descrlb~d.
An ~ddltlon~l feature that c~n be lncluded w~thln the system, 15 a t1cket lnspection device ~not illustrated~ that 1s carr~ed and operated by ~ Trans~t ~iason Off~c~r ln order to detect fare evasion and abuse.
Such a de~lce ~s small and por~able ~nd compr~ses a ~icket s~nning dev~ce ~s~m~lar ~o the device 3 ~s ea~)ier ~escrlbed) and a prlnter together w~th ~ store o~ ~nformatSon. The store of ~n~orm~on is ~n the ~orm of a smart ~ardldata mc.~ule as previously described. The stor~ of informatlon contaSns particular ticket numbers ~hzt have besn sub~e~t to a~use and were consequently inval~dated as well æs bus operators opening tScke~ numbers. Use o~ a such a ~evice in ~heckin~ ~lckets carried ~y com~uters enables a Transit Liason Officcr to readily Sdenti~y an abuse of the system and issue an ~n~r~ngQment no~ic~ ~orthwith.
The prSmary ad~an~ag~ of ~he present ~nvention lles in the direct IA~/7~8~/74~o 21~4~67~

~c~ount~bSl~ty of ~h ~nd ~v~ry t~rkP~ wlth1n the sYstem~ That ~ccountabll~ty consequently provldes an enormous da~a base of ticket sales Snformatlon. That da~a base is readSly accessible to m~n~gers of the system who can then apply to It any of many stat1stlcal methods in S or~er to provlde clear lnfo~mat10n a5 to system usa~e, e~ficiency, and performdnce. Inhe~ent w1th th~s~ advant~ S5 the total accountab111ty of tlckets and revenue at each and e~ery stage throu~hout the system and thu~ Lll~ c~p~b~llt~ o~ ~sso5c~ng t~ck.4t fr~ hy t~cket dlstrlbutors, oper~tors, eommuters or cash handlln~ houses.
~o Ft~. 2 shows an exemplary depo~ 20 wh~ch can form part of the system of F~g. 1. The depot 20 lncludes two opera~ve regSons separated by a wall l~. In o~e reg~on, two scann~rs 3, ~ prlnter 13 and a co~n counter ~4 are provlded ~or use by ~he operators 2 of the system. These devSces lnput data to a depot processor l~ ~h~ch acts ~s the loc~1 computer 4 ~s well as a d~str~but10n polnt ~or a d~ta base. Olstrlbutlon throughout the depot 20 ~s ach~eved us~ng a local area network ~LAN~
Generally, a clerk will be t~sked wlth overseelng the oper~tlon o~ the system wtthln each depot and a dedlcated term1nal 1~ and prlnter 17 are prov1ded ~or that purpose. The clerk has the ab~ y to tmplement certaln system functions that are to be descrlbed later. The depvt processor l9 connects vla the communlcations network 6I which ls preferably an X.25 network to a number of other depots 21, th~ corp~rate computl~g ~entre 7 and a~y corporate d~vlslvns 22 ~hlch may make use of st~tistical data prov~ded from the ~epots 20,~1 or ~om the computSng centre 7.
The operatlon of ~he system of Fi~s. l an~ 2 is controlled by v~rious compute~ programmes whSch are functSonally dep~cted Sn Fl~s. 3 to 11 .
Fig. 3 sho~s ~ TICKET RECEIPTS modul~ which Ss used for s~ann~n~ of the titkets e~ther by a bus ope~ato~ on completion of a shift1 or by rece~ving clerk upon iss~ng ~he ticket~ ~o operators. Thi5 m~d~le allows for the ~ocation o~ ~ ticket to be determin~d withln the system at any ttme.
F~g. 4 shows a CASH RE~EIPTS module in which ~ash is ~e~onc11ed by a clerk with~n ~ach depot l. Cash ls rece~Yed by the tash recelpts module either ~rom automatic tic~et revenue ob~a1ned via the coln counters ~, othe~ ticket revenue su~h as eash obt~1ned ~rom man~al . .
IAD/7 ~ 7 420 ~,.

2~67.l systems as well as other revenue ~uch as tlcket sales ~or whSch n~
Sp?clf~c ticket 15 provided. Other re~enue also ~ncludes monles obta~n~d thr~ugh ~lnes for ~are evas~on. The CASH RECEIP~S module also controls reservei of cash pald and received to operators. At th~ commencement o~
emp)oyment, ~n operator ls prov1ded with a reserve of cash wh~ch acts as change for the day's transactlon5. At the end of a shtft, the operator 2 has th~ option of deposltlng all monies lnto the money counter 5 for reconc11~atlon, or~ eneral1y happen~ due to sh~t varlatlon~. the operator 2 retalns a small portlon of those monles a~ chan~e for the next shlft. Accordlngly, this module ~alnta~ns a current account for each operator 2 w1thln the debot bas~ system. The CAS~ RECEIPTS module also 1ncludes reconc~l~at~on routlnes whlch mon~tor the ~low of monies Prom the depot to the bank~ between lndiv1dual members of staff. the amount o~
funds held by th~ depot as well a~ checkin~ tlcket cases for operators lS home based at othe~ depots.
F~g. 5 shows an OPERATO~ ~odule whlch ~s ~ccRssed and lmplemented by the depot clerk. The module allo~s for processln~ of data relat~ng to each and every operator 2 withln the syste~ ~nd provldes fo~ addlng new operato~s to the system as well as changlng psrsonnel ~etall~. An operator can only be deleted ~rom the system when ~ha~ operator's aceount has no debt. The module also ~ontrols the issu1ng of t~c~ets to th~
operators, as wel~ as ~ssulng cred~s an~ upkeep1ng the operator's account in relation to t~cket trans~ers and lost ~nd dama~ed t~ck~ts.
Each operator ~s also des~gnated ~y a unique number which 1s preferably 2S provid~d ln the forms of label which ~an be pr1nted th~ough the operator module.
An AC~U~T RECONCI~ IO~ module ~s shown in Fig. 6 which al10ws for the depot clerk to either vlew ~ndlor print account deta~l5 relating to varlous d~btors with~n the sy~t~m. ~ash sal~s ar~ checked ag2~nst banking re~ords and c~n provide ~ listing of various debtors to the system. Suspense account5 are provided wh~re~y the system will aceept monles ~rom An operator not validated ~n the data base. ~he money is filed ~n~o a suspense account wh~ch can be re~onciled once ~he partieular operator is ~alldated onto the system. Account statement enquiries c~n 35 be provide~ weekly and monthly and generally, ~nvv~ces are provlded for each and every transaction ~thin the system. Operator involces can also IA~17~aE~/74zo - - 2 ~ 7 1 ~o ~
be Ylewed to assess the ~lnanclal hl~tory of each oper~tor so ~5 to determ7ne work performance. A coln counter llstlng can be d1rectly obt~lned from the coln co~llter~ 5 or 1ndlr~ctly from th~ depot ~omputer 19 a~ the coln count~rs 5 are debtors to the system. ~anual ad~ustments as well as accounts correctlons can also be per~vrmed.
F1g. 7 shows a REPORT menu for varlous operatlons noted by the system. ~ally ~ccount varlatlons can be reported on every account wlthln the system on a dally ~asls. SUch 115tlny h~ghllght sny mo~et~ry ~ op~nc1es e~th~r plus or mlnus ~or d~ rs. A~ed trlal ~alances ~an lo be provtded da~ly, weekly, or monthly (28 days) to prov1de a reeord of agent tlcket s~les for vartous perlods. The REPORT menu also lncl~d~s an error lo~ report whlch llsts any error, unauthorlsed access, lncorrect scann~ng of t~cket bl~cks, as well ~s a~d~lng t1ckets lssued to operators w~thout entry. ~ost and/or dama~ed tlckets can also be reported fsr audlt purpo5es and re~onc711~t70n wlth translt ~lalson offlce~s. The ~enu also provld~s ~or the prlnt~ng of a tax~tlon report for any operator shortage over a four week a~countlng period. Where, over a four week perlodt an operatorls ~ccount 15 ~n de~t, the operator is required to make good that debt to clear hls/her account. The module then prlnts a reeelpt whl~h c~n be used for person~t taxat10n purposes as a cost lncurred in earn1ng an ~ncome. Th~s covers the sltu~lon ~here an operato~ may 1nadvertently lssue ~wo tlckets to a traveller, yet only recelve m~nies ln relat~on to one. If thls happens only ~ number o~
occasions over a four week per10dl a r~asonable sum may be bullt up.
~S Fig. 8 shows a STOC~ CONTROL module whlch con~ro~s the flow of stock into, ar~und and ou~ o~ the system. ~h~r~ a new del~very o~
tickets is recaived, these are ~enerally prov~de~ tn numerical order with the flrst and last t~cket numbars lndlcated on the outer packaglng.
These can ~e stanned whlch would th~n add those tick~ts to the depot stock. Tickets can be ~ransferred to other ~epots ;R a similar manner.
Where a part~cular t1cket ls no long r re~utred for use, generally ~hrough change of ~are, those tickets can be wtthdr~wn ~rom the system and cancellsd.
F7g. ~ shows a STATISTICS menu which can produce a ticket type 3~ sales report for a~l ~ypes of tickets sold by ~he system over any deslgnated p~rlQd o~ tSme. The menu can also trace the prQgreSs of any part7cular ticket throughout the syst~m whl~h may be use~ul 7n detecttn~

~AD/7~/7420 `` 20~671 fare evas10n. The statlst1~s menu also proY1des a reconc~lla~lon of ~n~k ~n h~n~ to~ether w~th monles currently rece1ved whereby a dally revenue balance ~s read~ly provlded, Thls revenue balance ls updated at the end of each sh~ft~ wher~ln the rsvenUe balance ls ~nown at cach o~
S those tlmes.
Fly. 10 shows a SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE module wh1ch enables the performance of varlous funct10ns assoclated w~th general computlng systems.
As sho~n in ~19. Z, v~rlous corporat~ d~vls~ons can be ~onnected to lC ~he commun~ca~on~ ne~work 6 and F~g. ~1 shows a menu whereby an area manager 15 prov~ded w~th a module to access ~arlous types of dat~
regard~ng the operat~on of the system.
The forego~ng d~scrlbes only ~ number of embodtments of the pr@sent in~entlon and other embodtments, obvlous to those s~lled ln the art, w111 be apparent w~thout depart~ng from the scope o~ the present lnventlon.

IAD/7~al~17420 ,

Claims (13)

CLAIMS:

1. A system for selling tickets and accounting for their sale, said system comprising:
a plurality of tickets each of which is uniquely identifiable by at least a two part ticket number encoded thereon whereby one part of each said ticket number identifies a particular type of ticket offered for sale and another part identifies a serial number of that type ticket;
a plurality of ticket dispensing means that are individually identifiable and from which tickets are dispensed to exchange for monies received therefor, each said ticket dispensing means being portable by a corresponding operator in relation to a plurality of depots, said operators being based from a home one of said depots;
counting means located within each said depot and communicating with a local processing means located within each said depot, said counting means being for the counting of monies received by each said operator that deposits monies therein, said counting means outputting to said local processing means a value of monies deposited by said operator;
reading means located within each said depot and communicating with said local processing means, said reading means being operable by said operators to identify those tickets remaining unsold at the end of an operator's shift; and a communications network interconnecting each of said local processing means within each said depot together with a host processing means located at any point within said network; whereby the number and type of tickets presented to each said operator for sale are inputted to each said local processing means at each respective home depot, at the end of each of said operator's shifts, said reading means in indentifying those tickets remaining unsold and communicating such information to said local processing means, allowing said local processing means to determine the value of tickets sold by each said operator, said value being compared with the value of monies counted by said counting means to determine an outstanding liability owed by said operator, and information relating to ticket sales and revenue collected is stored within said local processing means and/or transmitted IAD/742o to said host processing means to form a data base of information relating to the sale of and accounting for tickets within said system.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ticket number includes a third part comprising a check digit related to the serial number.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reading means further identifies each particular operator and that operator's home depot.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said counting means and said reading means together produce, via a printer and said local processing means, a transaction invoice identifying the particular operator, the operator's home depot, the monies deposited into said counting means, and those tickets remaining unsold.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said counting means comprises one or more coin counters.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said counting means comprises one or more note counters.

7. A system as claimed in claim 17 wherein said counting means includes one or more sets of coin and note counters.

8. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reading means comprises either a bar code reader or character recognition device, or both.

9. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ticket dispensing means comprises a book of individual tickets.

10. A system as claimed in claim 17 wherein said ticket dispensing means comprises a ticket printer and keyboard device operable by said operator to print said tickets at a time of sale.

11. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said ticket dispensing means includes a memory for recording data relating to tickets printed by said ticket dispensing means whereby said data memory can be removed from said ticket dispensing means and input to said reading means to record ticket sales made by a corresponding operator.

12. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said memory also records operational data associated with said operator and/or a vehicle under the control of said operator.

13. A transit operator's revenue accounting system comprising the system as claimed in claim 1.

IAD/742o